The Brunei Times spoke to the Fisheries Department Head of Diseases and Quarantine Section, Wanidawati Tamat, who presented the topic 'Aquatic animal health management in Brunei Darussalam' in the recent International Shrimp Health Workshop.
According to her, the department plays a big role in monitoring the local aquaculture industry to ensure stocks are healthy and disease-free, through regular visits to local ponds by department staff, who also advise farmers on pond management.
To ensure virus-free produce, samples are retrieved from aquaculture farmers in the pre-harvest period.
Wanidawati said that these specimens are screened for viruses and bacteria.When viruses are found, farmers are advised to clear their ponds of infected specimens. Mechanisms and action plans are in place to ensure the safety of aquatic animal health. In cases when bacteria are found, bacteria can still be treated in the department's laboratories.
"There is no such thing as outbreaks," she said. The definition of outbreak, she explained is a mass mortality of a farm.
Source: The Brunei Times